New system to help road accident victims

PUTRAJAYA: The Transport Ministry will be implementing the Malaysian eCall system to ensure the safety of road users and reduce the accident response time.

Its minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the implementation of such a system would help to reduce the time for emergency assistance after an accident, and also provide the accurate location details to the emergency response team.

"The system will be activated automatically when a vehicle equipped with this system is involved in a serious accident where crash data will be sent to the Malaysian Emergency Response Services - or MERS 999 in the shortest possible time.

"At the same time, the system can also be manually activated via panic button for an emergency other than an accident where emergency alerts generated to MERS 999 will be routed to the relevant emergency agencies for assistance," Liow said after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of collaboration between the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM).

Liow said the data and information generated from the system will be used by Miros to conduct research and analysis to reduce accidents and death rates due to road accidents.

"In fact, there is also another plus point for the system where it could act as a vehicle anti-theft security device in which it will inform the car owner via their registered phone number in the event their car is stolen.

Liow said for now the system is being implemented on a voluntary basis to iron out hiccups prior to mandatory implementation.

He assured the public that there would not be any additional cost for car owners to have the system in their vehicles as car manufacturers are required to install the gadget in vehicles.

Meanwhile, Liow said the Bilateral Agreement for the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project was inked by both the governments of Malaysia and Singapore recently.

He said that the project, a 4km rail connection between Bukit Cagar and Woodlands North MRT Station, would immensely benefit the people especially daily commuters between Johor Baru and Singapore.

"Once completed by end of 2024 and fully operational by 2025, the RTS link will be able to cater to some 10,000 passengers at a frequency of every four minutes during peak hours to alleviate the congestion at the Johor Causeway," Liow added.